This letter was sent in the heat of the battles of the Bar Kokhba Revolt, in which Jewish fighters battled the legions of the Roman Empire. In the end, the revolt turned out to be one of the bloodiest calamities in Jewish history. The letter was apparently sent by the leader of the revolt, Shimeon son of Koziba - better known by his nom-de-guerre, Bar Kokhba - to Yehudah son of Menasheh. In this letter, he demands that "palm branches and citron" and "myrtle branches and willows" be delivered to the camp, apparently in order to enable the camp dwellers to properly celebrate the Sukkot festival. This papyrus document is just one of the many letters discovered in the Judean Desert Cave of the Letters - a most remarkable treasure trove of archaeological finds. Here a small number of Jewish rebels evidently lived and died. They were most likely high-ranking participants in the revolt.